Improvement in construction of railroad-cars



C. M. ATKINS.

Railway Car.

Patented Oct. 28, 1862.

, Inventor Witnesses= UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES M. ATKINS, OF POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF RAILROAQ-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No; 36,762. dated October 28, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. ATKINS,

of Pottsville, in the county of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Railroad-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of .the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which t Figure l is a plan or top view ofa car-bed constructed or put together according to my through which and the timbers and an external bracket bolts pass, as hereinafter fully shown and described.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A A represent the side pieces, and B B the end pieces, of a car-bed. The timber may be of the usnal dimensions, and fitted together,

as, shown clearly in Fig. 1.

0 represents wrought-iron straps or brackets, which are placed at the corners of the car- 1 bed, and through which bolts a pass, and I represents cast-iron brackets of angle form, equal in depth to the timbers A B, and provided with a bottom plate, a, which is cast with the other parts in one piece. The bolts a pass through the brackets D, two through each side, as will be seen by referring to Fig. 2, in which the boltholes are shown. These brackets render the frame perfectly stiff or rigid, and effectually prevent the springing out of the side pieces, A A, under any lateral thrust or pressure to which they may be subjected.

By having the brackets D cast with bottom plates,la, they are very materially strengthened, and insured against breakage. The invention will not add materially to the cost of construction, while it renders the car-frame far more durable than the old plan of construction, in which nuts are let into the wood,

and are very liable to work loose and allow the side pieces to spring ou.ta contingency which is fully obviated by my invention.

I do not claim the external wrought-iron straps or brackets,G, for they have been previonsly used; but

I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 7 l The castiron brackets D, when applied to the inner surfaces of the angles or corners of the car bed or frame, and used in connection with the external straps. or brackets, O, and bolts at, for the purpose herein set forth.

' CHAS. M. ATKINS.

IVitnesses:

CHARLES E. BEoK, JAMES H. BEcK. 

